UK Tracks Russian RoRo Carrying Arms from Syria Escorted by Warship
The UK’s Royal Navy is reporting it has completed a three-day operation tracking the movements in the English Channel of a Russian warship and a military cargo ship believed to be bringing armaments back from Syria. It was the latest in a series of movements that have become so frequent The Times (London) reports it has been nicknamed “the Syrian Express.”
The Royal Navy reports that the Russian corvette Boikiy was first detected moving south from the Baltic and HMS Somerset, a Type 23 frigate based in Portsmouth, was dispatched to track the movements of the warship. The UK regularly tracks the movement of Russian warships in the Channel with Commander Joel Roberts of the frigate commenting, “Somerset is well versed in the escort of Russian ships, having conducted these operations on a number of occasions.”
This time it triggered a multi-day operation that included Somerset as well as coordination with UK patrol aircraft and NATO forces. The Somerset deployed her Merlin helicopter to gather additional information and the Belgian minehunter BNS Crocus also joined in the tracking.
Somerset trailing the Russian corvette Boikiy
Boikiy rendezvoused with the cargo ship Baltic Leader which was believed to be coming from the Tartus base in Syria. Previous reports indicated the ship was being used to remove military equipment as part of the Russian evacuation after the fall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. In its report, The Times cites satellite images showing military equipment on the dock at Tartus on February 1 when the Baltic Leader docked.
In an exclusive, The Times published pictures of the transit of the corvette and cargo ship during the transit obtained from a fishing boat in the Channel. Men in military fatigues can be seen on the cargo ship and at times the Russians were manning their machine guns.
The operation continued from March 1 through March 3 as the Baltic Leader and the Boikiy made the transit heading toward the North Sea and the Baltic.
Somerset (left) monitoring Baltic Leader with Boikiy ahead in the Channel mist
The RoRo cargo ship Baltic Leader (7,100 dwt) has become well-known for transporting Russian equipment. In 2022, France briefly detained the vessel for possible sanction violations and later attempted to prosecute the captain of the vessel. There was a dispute over the legal ownership of the vessel which led to the acquittal of the captain in October 2024. At the beginning of this year, the Portuguese reported tracking the vessel as it was inbound for the Mediterranean on another apparent voyage on the “Syrian Express.”
For Somerset, this was the second time this year it was activated to track Russian ships. In January, the Royal Navy reports Somerset along with the patrol ship HMS Tyne tracked the suspected Russian spy ship Yantar. Two weeks ago, HMS Iron Duke, HMS Tyne, and RFA Tideforce monitored five Russian ships. That convoy included three cargo ships that were also transiting from Syria and believed to be bound for a Russian Baltic port.